Are we all hitting the shops on Sundays in record numbers or are shopping precincts reduced to ghost towns on the weekends due to penalty rates? It seems employer groups want it both ways -- and penalty rates cut.

The smiling face of the person serving you is an important part of the retail experience that makes customers want to come back for more.
Shutterstock/Ikonoklast FotografieJune 29, 2015

Coles and Woolworths spent much of 2014 defending their behaviour in court. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought several actions against one or both of them throughout the…

Apple is considered a leader in designing “experience” stores. Some of their retail outlets in Manhattan have become tourist destinations.
ShutterstockDecember 30, 2014

Department stores and other brick-and-mortar retailers registered another lackluster holiday shopping season, while online sales have remained upbeat since Cyber Monday. As more consumers spend a larger…

“In a dance as old as time”: Bristol shoppers get ready for some 1950s bargains.
Paul TownsendDecember 15, 2014

Christmas is never plain sailing. It’s tough on consumers trying to work out how much food to buy and how to get their hands on the latest must-have toy for children, and it’s tough for retailers trying…

Christmas is unlikely to come early this year for retailers as consumers bunker down and pay off household debt.
Dan Himbrechts/AAPDecember 4, 2014

Treasurer Joe Hockey called on shoppers this week to “not let Santa down” and asked them to spend up big at the stores this Christmas. Unfortunately, the latest retail and consumer confidence data indicate…

Do online shop staff do online shopping while at work in their online shopping warehouse?
Jakub Kaczmarczyk/EPADecember 1, 2014

On Friday we witnessed images reminiscent of the London Riots from a few years ago. People with a crazed look in their eyes descended on shopping malls to plunder their contents. They fought with others…

A Wal-Mart employee puts a bow on a discounted television ahead of Black Friday in Los Angeles.
ReutersNovember 28, 2014

The US has been accused of inflicting their commercialised version of Halloween on us, and now we have the horror of the Black Friday “celebrations” in our calendar as well. In the US, this is the day…